Damien Hirst’s 111.5 million-pound ($199 million) record auction in London last month marks the top of the art market in the U.K., for now at least, according to a survey by valuers.
At the time that Hirst was grabbing headlines, the collapse in real-estate sales in the U.K. was taking its toll on prices of lower-value art and antiques, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
“The credit crunch and bank collapses are slowing down the markets, as is the falling house market”, said Simon Jones of Oxfordshire auctioneers Jones & Jacob, who was quoted in the survey. “It will get worse as the recession continues. That said, best quality lots are finding buyers at good prices”.
Auction houses are watching for signs of how their sales will perform in London and New York in the next two months. Even wealthy art buyers may be deterred by the Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., tumbling stock markets and slowing economic growth, said dealers.
A net balance of 34 percent more auctioneers and valuers reported prices falling for items estimated at 1,000 pounds and below in the quarterly survey completed last month. By contrast, a balance of 39 percent reported that prices rose for more expensive works of 50,000 pounds and higher as wealthy people snapped up trophy art. Contemporary art registered the strongest growth, with 41 percent more surveyors reporting increased prices. (Bloomberg)